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By Root 1343 0

Not Mel and Dallas. Me. I’d find a free lawyer somehow, I’d ask John whom to call, and I’d file something in the courts to make her stop. Or at least to upset her enough to make her go away for a while. That decision meant I’d have to confront Aunt Daisy and tell her I knew what had happened. So what? I was old enough to know that the truth was nothing anyone should ever be afraid to face. Like Ella used to say when we were just little girls, every back was fitted to the burden. Well, I thought then, heaven knows I’ve carried plenty of burdens and I was still standing.

On the way to the hospital, Patti and I rehashed the letter and I told her my plan.

“You’re right, of course. But remember, you’ve got the stash money I gave you for just such an emergency. If you need it to retain a lawyer, use it.”

“I’m buying a laptop and a printer,” I said, apropos of nothing.

“What?” she said, confused.

“How am I supposed to write the Great American Play without a laptop and a printer?”

“Holy Dorothy and DuBose, Batman! Go for it.”

“You’re such a jerk, did anyone ever tell you that?”

“Why no, but thank you very much!” she said in the worst Elvis imitation ever. “Thank you.”

We picked up a box of popsicles at the 7-Eleven near the hospital and dropped them off at the nurses’ station once we got upstairs.

“How’s she doing?” we asked the nurse.

“She wants to know when we have happy hour,” the nurse said with a straight face.

“She’s feeling better,” I said.

“And you’ll be glad to know she doesn’t need a cast any longer. The X-rays showed her foot has healed just fine. We fitted her with a rocking boot this morning, for a little extra support.”

“She probably wanted to know how many colors it came in,” Patti said.

“Boy, you really know your aunt!” the nurse said and took the popsicles.

We sat with Aunt Daisy while Ella went out to stretch her legs and get a cold drink. It was such a relief to see her with her eyes open and to hear her voice, even as raspy as it was.

“Where have you been?” she said, in a whisper. “Ella’s boring me to death.”

“You are incorrigible,” I said, smiling.

“We got a late start,” Patti said, as though she felt the need to confess. “And we took a walk on the beach to shake out the cobwebs.”

Aunt Daisy nodded and then she smiled.

“Tetanus! Who knew?” she said.

“Yeah, talk about a long shot,” I said. “The doctor said it was only the second time in his whole career that he’d seen a case of it.”

“He’s single,” Aunt Daisy said.

I just shook my head.

“Listen, Miss Matchmaker, I’ve got enough going on with John Risley. He’s practically sending me back to college with this whole Charleston Renaissance business. I don’t want to go to medical school.”

“I’m meeting him tonight,” Patti said. “But here’s the big question: Is he worthy?”

Aunt Daisy sat up a little and looked down her nose at Patti. Then she fell back into her pillows and began fanning herself.

“Got the message,” Patti said and giggled.

“Oh, Aunt Daisy,” I said.

There was no lack of drama in this family.

We stayed for most of the afternoon. Ella had returned and Aunt Daisy began drifting off to sleep.

“We’re going to go back out to the beach,” I said. “John’s coming at six.”

“Just call us if you need a single thing, okay? You’ve got our cell numbers, I hope?”

“I put them into Ella’s speed dial,” Patti said.

“I marvel at your tech talents,” I said.

We got in the car and rather than rush right back to Folly, I had this nagging urge to swing by the Charleston Museum to see the piano.

“Do you mind if we make a stop?” I said.

“No, of course not.”

“I just want to check something out before we see John tonight.”

It was a short ride and in minutes I swung into the museum’s parking lot and parked the car.

“This will take five minutes,” I said.

We paid our admission and hurried upstairs.

“Remember the old museum on Rutledge?” she said.

“Are you kidding? Remember that mummy?” I said.

“That thing used to give me nightmares.”

“Me too. You know, during the twenties and thirties the museum was run by a woman, which was a big deal at the